Subtropical Black Romance, the Seaside of Shek O, Hong Kong

“Hong Kong Beach Notes: Searching for the Equatorial Heartbeat Between the Steel Forest and the Azure Sea with Silver Sand” 【Pre-Trip Paradox: A Tale of Two Cities Between Urban and Ocean】 At 3 a.m., when I spotted the Cathay Pacific special fare, Hong Kong’s beaches were just a backdrop to the Victoria Harbour night view for me. It wasn’t until I squeezed onto the MTR Tung Chung Line dragging my 28-inch suitcase, with air conditioning and sea breeze alternating through my sun-protective clothing, that I realized this financial metropolis hides over 40 national-level beaches—the beach management here is so precise it monitors the moisture of every grain of sand, and the SPF value of sunscreen sold at 7-11 convenience stores is always one step ahead of the weather forecast. Practical Tip: Download the “KMB·LWB” real-time bus system app; the No. 40 green minibus from Repulse Bay to Stanley can save you 50% on transportation costs; when topping up your Octopus card, be sure to use the “blue machines” inside MTR stations, as topping up at street convenience stores incurs an additional 5% handling fee. 【Repulse Bay: Eileen Chang’s Literary Filter】 At 7 a.m., Repulse Bay feels muted, as if on silent mode; the terrace restaurant where Bai Liusu and Fan Liuyuan dined in “Love in a Fallen City” has yet to awaken. Passing through the white archway and climbing the steps, the palm leaves tremble in the morning mist like the “shining fountain” described in Eileen Chang’s writing. The beach attendant is filtering shell fragments brought in by last night’s tide with a special sieve, a gesture that reminds me of the tea restaurant waiter in Wong Kar-wai’s films who is always polishing glass cups. By the time tour buses start to flood in, I have moved on to Chun Hoi Lo Park. Here lies the most exquisite sea-viewing perspective in Hong Kong: in a surreal theater formed by the twelve zodiac sculptures and a Guanyin statue, a local uncle is capturing the moment a silver gull hunts with his telephoto lens. He mysteriously reveals, “Every lunar month on the 23rd day, during the ebb tide, the WWII breakwater ruins at Repulse Bay are exposed.” 【Stanley: The Palette of Colonial History】 The double-decker bus swings beautifully on the winding mountain road, and the moment Stanley Market suddenly appears in view feels like falling into a Wong Kar-wai film filter. Under the Victorian-style arcade of Murray House, an Indian musician plays the sitar to the soundtrack of “Chungking Express,” while upstairs in the maritime exhibition hall, the shell casings from the 1941 Battle of Stanley engage in an absurd dialogue with the cappuccino art in the café. Waiting for a sunset at Blake Pier is a must. When the setting sun melts the English cast-iron dome into amber, a Shanghai grandmother in a cheongsam suddenly hands me her phone: “Sister, help me take a photo of my back, make sure to capture the sunset reflected in the sea.” Her soft Wu dialect and the “Slow” traffic sign behind her form a wonderful intertextuality, evoking the city’s century-long stories of separation and reunion. 【Shek O: Subtropical Black Romance】 After nightfall, taking Bus No. 9 to Shek O is like entering the most magical time tunnel on Hong Kong Island. The driver suddenly switches the onboard stereo to “Tian Mi Mi” at a sharp turn, and the bougainvillea on both sides of the mountain road turns into a flowing river of magenta under the headlights. Passing the “Slow” traffic sign into the village, the pitch-black sea is only pierced by the lighthouse beam swinging like a pendulum, while deep in the beach, the electronic music party of foreign youths echoes—the extreme contrast is reminiscent of a Johnnie To crime thriller scene. A surprise find is the 24-hour convenience store next to the Tin Hau Temple. The owner explains the secret recipe of “shrimp paste fried instant noodles” in Teochew dialect, while a 1950s vintage radio on the windowsill plays the Cantonese opera “The Flower Princess.” The hoarse voice and the sound of waves ferment a unique atmosphere in the dark night. 【Big Wave Bay: Surfers’ Philosophy Lesson】 The dawn in Sai Kung carries a wild energy. As the first boat cuts through the calm Crescent Bay, professional surfers are performing some kind of wave divination—the way they touch the wax layer on their boards reminds me of worshippers shaking fortune sticks at Wong Tai Sin Temple. Coach Sam, demonstrating the “wave tip turn,” suddenly becomes philosophical: “You have to learn to negotiate with the waves; getting up too early means being swallowed, too late means missing the power point—it’s just like trading at the Central Exchange.” In the afternoon, witness a geographical miracle at the connected island sandbar. At low tide, the exposed pebble path links Kiu Tsui Chau and Hoi Mun Wan; walking through the agate-green tide pools, hermit crabs cautiously meet my gaze as if negotiating a real estate deal with their shell homes. A reminder here: be sure to install the “Hong Kong Observatory” app on your phone; tidal predictions have an error margin of no more than three minutes. Private Tips (2025 Edition) Transportation Metaverse Repulse Bay → Stanley by No. 40 green minibus (HKD 6.9, 25 minutes) saves 70% compared to taxi For night return from Shek O, book the “Guangdong-Hong Kong Direct Bus” with 15% off via WeChat Pay Light and Shadow Catcher Timetable Murray House Corridor (3:00-4:30 p.m.) best for diamond-shaped light spots Stanley Main Beach Mirror Sea (1 hour after low tide) great for smartphone photography Shek O Health Clinic “King of Comedy” filming location (7:00-8:30 a.m.) avoid film crew shooting Taste Hedging Guide Stanley Market “Siyi” milk tea with French toast (cash only) Shek O “Shing Kee Store” shrimp paste fried noodles + salted lemon soda (Alipay accepted) Avoid chain coffee shops in Repulse Bay; choose “Wave Tea House” next to the beach changing rooms instead Cultural Easter Egg Hunting Stanley Prison Museum offers former prison guards’ oral histories every Tuesday/Thursday Repulse Bay Ying Wan Garden basement hosts a replica exhibition of Eileen Chang’s manuscripts Murray House floor tiles hide Morse code; decoding it earns you a drink voucher As the flight crosses the Tsing Ma Bridge, the Victoria Harbour skyline reflected in the window gradually blurs, but the azure sea and silver sand embedded in the folds of the steel forest become clearer. The charm of Hong Kong’s beaches lies in this never-ending dialogue of time and space—colonial architecture and fishing village temples share the same tide, financial elites and surfing youths reach a delicate balance on the wave crest. Next time you visit Hong Kong, let the sea breeze be your guide and write your own tale of two cities in this symbiotic land of concrete and coral reefs.